Optical displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), are becoming increasingly commonplace, finding use for example in many application such as mobile telephones, hand-held computer devices ranging from personal digital assistants (PDAs) to electronic games, to larger devices such as laptop computers, LCD monitors and television screens. LCDs typically include one or more light management films to improved display performance, such as output luminance, illumination uniformity, viewing angle, and overall system efficiency. Exemplary light management films include prismatically structured films, reflective polarizers, absorbing polarizers, and diffuser films.
The light management films are typically stacked between a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal panel. From a manufacturing perspective, several issues can arise from the handling and assembly of several discrete film pieces. These problems include, inter alia, the excess time required to remove protective liners from individual optical films, along with the increased chance of damaging a film when removing the liner. In addition, the insertion of multiple individual sheets to the display frame is time consuming and the stacking of individual films provides further opportunity for the films to be damaged. All of these problems can contribute to diminished overall throughput or to reduced yield, which leads to higher system cost.